ANNAPOLIS, Md. —  The Navy men's lacrosse team (2-0) held UMBC (1-0) to just three goals over the final three quarters, while attackman Christian Daniel (So / Owings, Md.) punched in five goals to lead the Mids to an 11-6 victory over the Retrievers Friday evening at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The victory marked the 800th in the school's 112-year history, as Navy joins Johns Hopkins, Syracuse and Maryland as the only Division I programs to reach 800 wins.

"It speaks to the tradition of a great program," said Navy head coach Rick Sowell, who has amassed 50 wins in his eight seasons at the helm. "I've only been a small part of it, but it's pretty cool to play a part in an incredible achievement. It's an honor to be the head coach here and hopefully there are plenty more wins ahead for this program.

"It was a heck of a win over a really solid program tonight," added Sowell. "UMBC has one of the better defenses in the country, but I thought we executed well. I was proud of the way the team fought tonight."

While Navy controlled the pace in the opening quarter, mistakes proved costly to the Mids as they held just a one-goal advantage through the opening 15 minutes of play.

Daniel gave Navy the early lead with back-to-back unassisted goals in the opening five minutes of action, but a miscue in the clearing game provided UMBC a 6-on-4 opportunity that was closed out by a Ryan Frawley goal at 8:33.

The Mids responded with back-to-back goals, including a highlight reel play that saw long-stick midfielder Jeff Durden (So / Cumming, Ga.) score his fourth collegiate goal off a sensational outlet pass by All-Patriot League goalkeeper Ryan Kern (Jr / Middletown, Del.) at the 6:17 mark. It was the first time a Navy goalkeeper has been credited with an assist since 2009 when Tommy Phelan threw an outlet pass to close defenseman Andy Tormey for a score in the Mids' NCAA Tournament game at Duke.

UMBC fought back over the closing minutes of the period and drew within one (4-3) after Navy once again failed to clear the ball, giving attackman Trevor Patschorke his first goal of the game.

Navy pushed its lead back to two (5-3) when co-captain Greyson Torain (Sr / Glen Burnie, Md.) forced a UMBC turnover on the clear and fellow co-captain Ryan Wade (Sr / Coronado, Calif.) picked up the loose ball and punched in his second goal of the game.

The Retrievers answered less than a minute later when attackman Steven Zichelli forced the defender to overcommit as he rolled to the left and sent an ankle-biter past Kern to trim the Mids' lead to one (5-4) once again.

The Mids' freshman attack tandem of Nick Cole (Ashburn, Va.) and Jack Sweeney (Glenelg, Md.) went to work over the final three-and-a-half minutes to give Navy a 7-4 lead at the half. Cole benefitted from a heads-up play by Kern and Durden as Kern made the save and sent an outlet pass to Durden past midfield. Durden had a good look at the cage, but opted to make the extra pass to Cole who was on the doorstep for the goal. Meanwhile, Sweeney scored his first collegiate goal when Wade found him in transition for the quick stick.

UMBC went on to score just two second-half goals and was shut out in the fourth quarter thanks in part to Navy's riding game.

"The riding game has been a major point of emphasis for us since we started practice in early January," said Sowell. "I think we have the right personnel in place and to be honest, the new clearing and shot clock rules play into our favor.

"I think we gave them a few goals early, but our defense has been coming together and was solid overall."

Daniel, meanwhile, scored three second-half goals and assisted on a fourth for the Mids after forcing a turnover and feeding second-year middie Jeff deLyra  (Brightwaters, N.Y.) for his second collegiate goal.

Daniel paved the way in the scoring column with a career-best six points on a career-high tying five goals and an assist.

"It was a heck of a performance by Christian," said Sowell. "We all know what Christian is capable of and I have to allow him to be creative. I challeneged him this week and he certainly answered. He's fun to watch and his energy gets the rest of the team going."

"Coach challenged me to be a little more fundamentally sound and I took it seriously," said Daniel, who has scored at least one point in all 15 games he has played at Navy.

Wade, who came into the game with the nation's 11th-longest point-scoring streak, extended that run to 26 consecutive games with three points on two goals and an assist. Cole, Durden and Sweeney all pitched in two points.

Kern once again provided the Mids with outstanding leadership from between the pipes where he made 14 saves and moved into 14th on the Mids' all-time saves leader board with 276 career saves. Meanwhile, junior Tom Evans (Great Falls, Va.) made just his second career appearance at close defense and provided a spark with his four ground balls and caused turnover.

Navy won the hustle stat with a 40-29 edge in ground balls. After UMBC posted an 18-13 edge at the half, the Mids came back to post 27 ground balls over the final 30 minutes.

UMBC was led by Frawley's hat trick, while Patschorke talled a pair of goals. The Retrievers' starting defense forced nine Navy turnovers and goalkeeper Tommy Lingner turned aside nine shots.

The Midshipmen return to action next Saturday when they play host to third-ranked Maryland (2-0) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium beginnng at 12:00 pm. A free live video stream will be available on PatriotLeague.TV with Joe Miller on the call, while Tim Murray will bring the action to the radio waves on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV.

### Go Navy ###